Method and system for controlling an industrial process

Abstract

A method of monitoring and controlling an industrial process associated with a plurality of process variables by a control system including displaying a set of process related images which are user-selected on a display device of the control system, each process related image of the set of process related images being associated with a process variable of the plurality of process variables; receiving process variable data of the plurality of process variables while the step of displaying is carried out, and when process variable data is received indicating that a process variable has a status value outside a predetermined accepted range; and displaying, on the display device, a process related image which is associated with the process variable with the status value outside the predetermined accepted range, receiving an input command for controlling the process variable, and controlling the process variable based on the input command.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of monitoring and controlling an industrial process by means of a control system, the industrial process associated with a plurality of process variables, the method comprising the steps of:
 displaying a set of process related images, which are user-selected, on a display device of the control system, each process related image of the set of process related images being associated with a process variable of the plurality of process variables, wherein the process related images of the set of process related images are displayed in succession without interaction from a user, and wherein a duration of displaying each process related image of the set of process related images is predetermined, 
 receiving process variable data of the plurality of process variables while the step of displaying is carried out, and 
 when process variable data is received indicating that a process variable has a status value outside a predetermined accepted range, and in response thereto:
 directly displaying, on the display device, a process related image which is associated with the process variable having the status value outside the predetermined accepted range, 
 receiving an input command for controlling the process variable, and 
 controlling the process variable based on the input command. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, prior to the step of displaying, receiving a user input for selecting the set of process related images to be displayed in the step of displaying from a superset of process related images. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining an order of relevance of the set of process related images based on the process variable data. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 3 , further comprising sorting the process related images based on the order of relevance. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , wherein the step of displaying comprises displaying the process related images according to the order of relevance of the sorted process related images. 
     
     
       6. The method of clan  1 , wherein the control system comprises a SCADA system. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the control system comprises a plurality of control units, each control unit arranged to control a process component. 
     
     
       8. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having a computer program stored thereon, where the computer program is executed on a computer to perform a method of monitoring and controlling an industrial process by means of a control system, the industrial process associated with a plurality of process variables, the method comprising the steps of:
 displaying a set of process related images which are user-selected, on a display device of the control system, each process related image of the set of process related images being associated with a process variable of the plurality of process variables, wherein the process related images of the set of process related images are displayed in succession without interaction from a user, and wherein a duration of displaying each process related image of the set of process related images is predetermined, 
 receiving process variable data of the plurality of process variables while the step of displaying is carried out, and 
 when process variable data is received indicating that a process variable has a status value outside a predetermined accepted range, and in response thereto:
 directly displaying, on the display device, a process related image which is associated with the process variable having the status value outside the predetermined accepted range, 
 receiving an input command for controlling the process variable, and 
 controlling the process variable based on the input command. 
 
 
     
     
       9. A control system for controlling an industrial process associated with a plurality of process variables, the control system comprising:
 a plurality of control units, each control unit being arranged to control a respective process variable of the plurality of process variables, 
 a display device arranged to display a set of process related images which have been user-selected, each process related image of the set of process related images being associated with a process variable of the plurality of process variables, wherein the control system is arranged to display the process related images in succession on the display device without interaction from a user, and wherein a duration of displaying each process related image of the set of process related images is predetermined, and 
 an input unit arranged to receive input commands, 
 wherein the control system is arranged to receive process variable data of the plurality of process variables, and 
 wherein when process variable data indicating that a process variable has a status value outside a predetermined accepted range is received by the control system, the display device is arranged to directly display a process related image which is associated with the process variable having the status value outside the predetermined accepted range, and 
 wherein the input unit is arranged to receive an input command to control the process variable having the status value outside the predetermined accepted range, and 
 wherein a control unit associated with the process variable with the status value outside the predetermined accepted range is arranged to control that process variable based on the input command. 
 
     
     
       10. The control system of  claim 9 , arranged to receive a user input for selecting the set of process related images to be displayed on the display device from a superset of process related images. 
     
     
       11. The control system of  claim 9 , arranged to determine an order of relevance of the set of process related images based on the process variable data. 
     
     
       12. The control system of  claim 11 , arranged to sort the process related images based on the order of relevance. 
     
     
       13. The control system of  claim 12 , wherein the display device is arranged to display the process related images according to the order of relevance of the sorted process related images. 
     
     
       14. The control system of  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of control units comprises a remote terminal unit or a programmable logic controller.